Guided walk

The guided walk leads you through the brass factory settlement in Eberswalde. You begin at the Kupferhaus-Siedlung [i. e. Copper House Settlement]  1  on Altenhofer Straße. The copper houses are an early and significant example of the development of prefabricated housing technology. Between 1931 and 1932, under the direction of Walter Gropius, eight singlefamily homes are built, grouped with a strict East-West orientation. The green-black metal facades of the houses are contrasted with the charming white wooden windows and doors. The idea of building prefabricated houses using a light wood framed construction covered with thin copper sheeting originates from Frigyes Förster and Robert Krafft. The structures, which are displayed at the 1931 Colonial Exhibition in Paris, prove popular and are awarded a Grand Prize. The accelerated military rearmament, with copper as an important material for the war effort, makes the building of more copper houses impossible. Production is definitively stopped in 1934.

Leave the area heading westward. After just a few steps you will reach the Wasserturm mit Ehrenmal [i. e. Water Tower with Memorial]  2  . The 50 metre tall yellow brickwork tower is one of Germany‘s earliest examples of Brick Expressionism fused with Gothic motifs. The patriotic memorial, donated by a Jewish family, is built in 1917/18 from designs by the architect Paul Mebes. On the north side is the former Hindenburg Memorial. Until 1945 it comprises a shell limestone panel with the names of 162 soldiers who fell during the first world war, a medallion with portrait of Hindenburg, and two reliefs of swords.

Stroll past the old clay quarry and turn left onto Erich-Steinfurth-Straße. After a few minutes you will arrive at the Eichamt Eberswalde [i. e. Office of Weights and Measures]  3  . The three-winged module with hipped roofs, created in 1922/23 by architect K. Wollf, is an important architectural testament to the communal independence of the brass factory settlement since 1920. The former two-storey community school with two homes for teachers, arranged around an entrance vestibule, is scenically unbalanced in its individual forms and facades. Large classroom windows with rounded arches made from plaster strips, cowl dormers, transom windows, and ridge turrets give the building its characteristic appearance.

Then, follow the street until you reach the Torbogenhaus [i. e. Gateway House]  4  . The plaster construction with the T-shaped floor plan skilfully inserted into the adjacent buildings is built from 1916/18 according to a design by Paul Mebes and Paul Emmerich. Originally conceived as administrative and laboratory buildings, it was reconstructed as a residential dwelling in 1923. Individual elements, such as the curved pointed arch roof of the Biedermeier period and large windows divided by crossbars characteristic of the Baroque period, reach back to a variety of historical styles. A special highlight are the colourful mosaics in the entrance hall of the north wing. They feature arabesques, fruit baskets, birds and leaping deer and are designed by Cesar Klein.